Diesel engine



June 1, 1943 F. w. PLUME DIESEL ENGINE Filed July 27, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 :inventor F. W. PLUME DIESEL ENGINE June 1, 11943.

Filed July 27, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 grabe-ruw. Qlumb Snuentor Gttornega/ June 1, 1943. f F. w. PLUME DIESEL ENGINE 4 sheets-sheet 5 Filed July 27, 1942 reerc 117. @lamb nventor (Ittomega/ June 1, 1943.

F. W. PLUME: 2,320,648

DIESEL ENGINE l Filed Julyfz'r, 1942 4 sheets-'sheet 4 Snnentor attorney Patented June l, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Frederic vllllblllvlltlivnton, Y.` Application Ju y 27, :1o. 4

11 Claims.

My invention relates tofueloil-burning internal combustion engines of the Diesel type shown inmy prior patent No. 2,237,113, of April 1, 1941,

and my object is to provide a new and improved Vengine of this nature which may be readily ttedA for war purpose use in air, water or land combat vehicles.

More particularly my present improvements relate to a novel engine construction having its cylinder bent midway of itslength to form two sides of an equilateral triangle, with the angled pistons therein acting as heretofore in an opposed shaft provided with a gear wheel meshing with and jointly operating -a gear wheel on a centrally located drive shaft, enabling change of the drive and eiiiciency with enginevdriven means for inmanner of its use and multiple assembly with its two cycle stroke, and each piston having a crank gear ratio when needed and the use of a large tubular 'shaft through which a gun or cannon may be discharged.

An essential feature of my improved construc' tion is the provision in the engine block of an integral closed' top cylinder wall spaced over the communicating meeting ends of the angled cyl- 'inder bore portions so as toform a common com-` pression ignition chamber for the opposed pistally on the line 5-5 tons, completely enclosed within said block as in j the straight cylinder chamber of my aforesaid patent, and thus insure the highcompression of the combustion charges necessary in a true Diesel engine.' i

Another highly important feature of my new construction is the provision for using a low presf sure fuel oil supply pump, permitting the use of suitable size fuel pipe lines to reduce frictional loss, and feeding successive fuel oil charges;- by

means of an independently operated injection plunger controlled` by the engine speed, under an intensified pressure sumcient to positively insure the discharge of such fuel charges into the highly compressed air in the` cylinder; my improved construction further providing lmeans foi a manual selective throttle control for varying the' amount and timing of auch fuel charges.

Myimproved construction permits the desired use of enlarged and more effective anti-frictionbearings with forced oil lubrication for the moving parts. and is lparticularly designed for construction in complete engine unit sections each having a novel built-in crank shaft provided with interlocking means at its ends to engage with' a like crank shaft of an added engine section so as to facilitate nmultiple assembly of such sections for required power needs. My construction also provides for a usual watercooling system `fol'theengine and cylinderabutofincreasedsize of Fig. 2.

manifest more eiilcient operation and ready adaptability for war needs are more fully described hereinafter in connection with the accompanying drawings, and the novel features thereof pointed out in the appended claims.

Fig. 1 is an end elevation of an engine showing a preferred embodiment of my improvements, a portion of the gear cover plate being broken away to show the enclosed gears.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the engine shown `in Fig. 1. 1

Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation on the line 3 3 Fig. 4 is a fragmentary iiat-developed cross section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3, showing the mounting of the main drive shaft.

Fig. -5 is a detail of Fig. 3, 'and showing the ribbed `water jacket extension covering the compression-ignition chamber portion of the bent cylinder.

g communicating cylinder bore in axial section and the intermediate compression-ignition chamber of the cylinder with its superimposed housing for the fuel injecting mechanism in medial vertical section.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary end view the fuel-injection housinghlooking in the direction of arrow I of Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a correspondingly enlarged cross sec' tional view of the ho of Fig. s.

Fig. 9 is a correspondingly enlarged sectional plan view of the housing taken on the line l-I' taken on the line I-l OfFig. 6.

portion a longitudinal Fig. 10 shows in the broken away and separated upper portion a front elevation, and in the' lower vertical section through their near crank case chambers, of a multiple assembly of three engine lunits and indicating means for connecting them for joint operation.

Fig. 1l is a fragmentary detail view, on a larger scale, showing the pre-combustion chamber for the fuel oil, above the cylinder compression-ignited chamber. for igniting such compression charge.

Referring to thel drawings, my engine block is' shownasa casting, preferably of a dense. uniform,

wear resistant ca st iron alloy, such as plan View taken substanl that wellknownand commonly used under the name ofMeehanite or like metal, and machine finished to form two upwardly inclined closedtop cylinder bores 5, 5, each opening at its lower end into a crank case chamber 5, 6, the lower half portions 1, 1, of the latter being separately formed and removablysecured to facilitate entry of pistons 8, 8 into the cylinder bores 5, 5 and the mounting of crank axles 9,9, having rods III, I connecting their crank-pins 9', 9', to their respective pistons 8, 8.

It will be seen that the longitudinal axes of bores 5, 5, form the side legs of an equilateral triangle, the base leg of which extends between the axial centers of the crank shafts 9, 9, and the upper contiguous walls of said bores 5, 5. meet below their common integral' top closure wall II so as to form a compression ignition chamber portion I2 connecting said bores and providing for the latter operating asa continuous cylinder in which the pistons 8, 8 may act in an opposed relation and a two cycle stroke as in my aforesaid patent No. 2,237,113. This integral top cylinder wall II securely enclosing the compression-ignition chamber I2 uniting the bores 5, 5, is an important feature of my improved construction and a practical necessity in this Diesel type of engine to provide a leak-proof closed compression-ignition space between the advancing pistons with ample strength to withstand the high compression of the 'combustion charges vin such space. This solid head construction avoids any need of a gasket required for a removable head and likely to cause leaks, and insures maintaining a constant compression ratio, say of sixteen to one which has been found to be most effective.

Each crank shaft 9, 9 is shown as having an end drive gear I5, I5, meshing with and jointly driving a gear wheel I on a main power shaft I1, shown as centrally mounted in the engine block between the angular cylinder bores 5, 5,

' and centrally within the aforesaid triangle, such location permitting the use of a large bore tubular shaftas shown through which a cannon or gun barrel may be discharged. This arrangement providesfor substituting varying gears to change the ratio of drive of the power shaft for specific needs, and the latter may directly drive an air plane propeller or have a ily wheel and transmission mechanism for sea or land vehicles.

f 'I'he engine block is shown with water jacket chambers 20, 29 encircling each cylinder bore 5, 5, with partition walls 2| therein separating parts of said chambers to form air passageways 22 extending from the respective crank case chambers 5, 5, to inlet apertures 23 in one cylinder bore 5, the opening and closing of which is controlled by the movement of its respective piston 8. The other cylinder bore 5 is shown with outlet apertures 24, discharging across the water jacket chamber and separated from the latter by partition walls 25. Each crank case chamber is shown with an air inlet openingl 26 covered' by a one-way acting valve plate 21 to admit air to said chambers where it is compressed and forced through air passageways 22 and cylinder inlet apertures 23. The angular arrangement of the cylinder bores allows th'e water jacket chamber to encircle a greater portion of the cylindrical chambers for Vmore eifective cooling, and this water jacket is shown at 28 as covering the top closure wall I I, and at 29 as encircling the chambers below-their meeting passageway I2, which are the hottestportions of said chambers.

`ating heat to the adjacent water.

The top wall plate I I is shown as having an upward circular-wall integralextension 30 forming a pre-combustion chamber 3I, see Fig. 11, preferably having a nozzle and spiral director of the nature shown in my aforesaid patent, and acting to initially ignite therein only a portion of each fuel charge, which ignited portion then passes through the bottom opening of said chamber into the compression-ignition chamber I2 connecting the angled cylinder bores 5, 5, to ignite the remainder of the charge, without the shock of direct ignition of the entire charge. This circular wall 30 extends to the top of the water chamber 28 and has spaced parallel ribs 32 integrally uniting it to the top wall plate II and acting to strengthen the latter and aid in radi- The water chamber 28 is shown as closed by a cover'plate 33, which also seats on the annular top edge .42 of generally semicircular outline, and a separate cover plate 43 seats on the top edges of walls 40 and 4I and the free ends of the latter. so as to form a chamber 44 for the fuel-oil charge injecting pump mechanism later herein described. The wall 42 aforesaid, is apertured for a bearing extending therethrough fromA chamber 44 for a shaft 45 on which a drive gear 45 is mounted`to mesh with and be driven by the gear I8 on `main power shaft I1. A gear casing 41 is shown as covering the crank shaft gears I5, I5. main shaft gear I9, and gear 46, and this casing it will be seen has an outline formed by circles struck from the three apexes of the triangle aforesaid, and a circle struck from the axis of parts. A similar cover plate 52 for the other crank shaft 9, is shown with suitable pump mechanism 53 driven by its crank shaft to circulate the water through the water jackets heretofore described. A third cover plate 54 encloses a bearing seat 55 in the engine block for the main power shaft I1, which extends through said cover i plate.

'I'he pre-combustion chamber 3| and its opening into the compression ignition chamber I2 connecting the meeting ends of the angled cylinder bores 5, 5, may desirably be similar to that shown in my aforesaid patent. but in the present construction I prefer to employ and show new and improved means for injecting the fuel oil charges into the highly compressed air in the cylinder, independent of the pressure for supplying the fuel oil, and permitting the use of an economical low pressure feed pump for the fuel oil, and, because of such low pressure feed, I may employ any ordinary suitable diameter feed pipe lines that will reduce friction to the oil flow. A usual low pressure rotary pump, such -as a known Roper pump, is indicated at 60, and is shown as directly driven by a pump 'gear wheel 6I meshing with a pinion gear wheel 62 on gear wheel 43 driven by power shaft gear wheel I1. 'I'his pump shown as having a free-oating ball check valve guarding its outlet to pre-combustion chamber 3|. A `charge injecting plunger 15, extending from a plunger guide 16, fitted to move in chamber 61, is shown as normally depressed by a leafl spring 11 and lifted from such depressed position by a bell-crank lever 18 carried by shaft 19.

'I'he bell-crank lever 18 is shown as intermittently operated in accordance with the speed of the engine by means of a trip cam 80 on a shaft 8| having a gear wheel 82 meshing with said pinion gear wheel 62 of gear wheel 45. Pump 60 forces fuel oil at low pressure to chamber 64, and, through port 66, to injection chamber 61 to keep the latter filled for action of the injection plunger 15 as determined by trip cam 88 on shaft'8l. Leaf spring 11 determines the force with which plunger 15 is depressed, and its tension is independent of and permits `low pressure of the fuel supply, and its tension may be varied by adjusting its clamped end or by addition to or removal of its component leaves, in accordance with the force of injectionneeded or desired.

The fuel oil injecting mechanism above de.

scribed provides for feeding charges of fuel oil to the highly compressed air of the cylinder and in accordance with the speed of the engine, as it is operated by gear wheel 45 in direct mesh with power shaft gear wheel I1, and the leaf spring 11 regulating the pressure of the injection plunger, permits the use of a desirable low pressure feed pump for supplying the fuel oil to the injection chamber 61.

This new and improved fuel injection mechanism, as above described, permits the addition of a new and advantageous throttle control for regulating the amount of fuel oil injected by the plunger 15, and the timing of its injection action. This throttle control is provided for, as shown, by mounting bell crank lever 18 on an eccentric portion of its shaft 19, which latter is extended to project outwardly through a wall of injection chamber 44, and carries a hand lever 85 adjustably engaged with a notched sector 86. Swinging of hand lever 85 turns shaft 19 tochange the center of throw of its bell crank lever 18 relative to plunger guide 16 so as to adjust the stroke of injection plunger 15 for any varying feed between a maximum and minimum fuel injection to the cylinder. And such shifting of the lever 18 also changes its relative position to cam 80 on shaft II, changeably timing the cam operation on said lever between early and late limits and, thus automatically regulating the timing of the fuel injection in accordance with the quantity determined by the plunger, and the speed of operation 'of the engine. y.

Only one fuel pump 60 will be required for a multi-assembly of my engine units, and only one hand control lever 85, but for such assembly. shafts 19 and 8| will preferably be extended to cover the number of engine units added, or such shafts may ifdesired be made in built-in sections with coupling units uniting them, as for my crank! shafts, as later herein described.

The crank casing chambers 6, 6, are shown with wall bearings to receive the crank axles 9, 9, and the crank portions thereof are shown as made construction permits :the use of large size antifriction roller bearings for the crank axles 9, 9, as indicated, and these axles are shown as built into the engine unit. and their ends shown as formed with three jaw clutches 90, 90, adapted tc engage `the ends of like lcrank shaft axles when other units are added and assembled to form a multi'- cylinder engine. 'Ihese sectional built-in crank shaft axles 9, 9, not only facilitate such multiple assembly, but avoid the strains and distortions of expansion and contraction inherent where a single multi-cranked shaft is'employed besides eliminating the costs of manufacturing and installing such varying length shafts; and the necessary strength for the clutch jaws 90, 90, ofv my said sectional shafts is adequately provided for as by the duplex roller bearing rings 9| shown in Fig. 10 of the drawings.

My engine unit thusfully described is adapted for multiple assembly as in my aforesaid prior Patent No. 2,237,113, but in this case a longer straight main power shaft I1, may be employed but is not always required and to employ suitable clamping means for connecting the crank shaft bearing bosses where they 'abut one another. Only one gear casing 41 is necessary, as only one set of gears I5, I5, I.1 and 46 arer required in such multiple engine units, and such casing would be mounted on the outer face of an end unit, and the opposite end unit would carry cover plates 50, 52 and 54, as the pumps mounted on them would supply all the engine units, which may readily have suitable junction tubes connecting their respective water jackets and lubricating fuel systems.

In Fig. 10 I have indicated three-engine units connected to form a multi-unit engine, such up of spaced discs counterbalanced if desired, and

connected by eccentric crank pins 9', 9'. My

showing indicating how other engine units may be added by spacing the end units to form the end ones of any desired or required number. The built-incrank axles 9, 9, will interlock their jaw clutches 90, 98, so as to operate as a continuous axle, the power shaft I1 may be extended if desired, but it is not required, as it is operated by its single gear wheel I6 of the train gears I5, I5, I6 and 45 on one end engine unit. Shafts 19 and 8i may be extended, or the separate en gine sections thereof coupled together if desired .so as to extend across the multiassembly of engine units, with the throttle hand lever located anywhere in its length. Coupling together of the several engine units is shown as simply and adequately ksecured as by using flanged connecting rings engaging their abutted bearing bosses 96, 96. Nipples 91 may be used to connect the water jackets of the several units, 'and the crank cases may have an oil pipe 98 connecting them, and a branch pipe 99 from fuel oil pump 60 may carry fuel oil to the injection chamber of each engine unit.

My engine, as above described, forms a compact unit, readily assembled with minimum effort into a multiple unitl engine, and operatesas a true Diesel and in the powerful opposed. pistons two-cycle stroke manner of my aforesaid Paten t No. 2,237,113. It lends itself to ready install lation of known large effective anti-friction bearings, and the use of known pump mechanism for lubricating oil and water circulation. Its generally triangular shape with the apex angle at the top forms little obstruction to sight in the case of a single propeller airplane. And the central location of its main power shaft permits use of a large tube for this purpose with a bore of suicient size to receive a gun barrel of effective POW- er, the barrel of which may be kept cool by the air passing through said tube, and this tubular power shaft may directly drive the propeller of an air plane, or may have a ily wheel and transmission mechanism as desired, or as required for other uses in sea and land vehicles.

My new and improved engine as herein fully described, is, so far as known to me, the'first true Diesel engine employing a bent or angled cylinder, though I am aware that an attempt has heretofore been made along these lines without success or benefit in the art becauseof lack of understanding in essential and fundamental re quirements of a true Diesel of the opposed piston two stroke cycle operation. In my improvedpconstruction I have retained all the essential requirements of such Diesel engine by making the angled portions` of my cylinder with an integral closed compression ignition chamber, so that it will operate in the same effective manner as a straight cylinder heretofore believed necessary. In connection with the angled cylinder construction, I employ new and improved throttle controlled means for regulating the amount and timing of the injected fuel charges, making an engine unit of compact and economical construction, with easy access to all working parts, and of powerful efficiency, with ready adaptability for war needs. The particular detail embodiments shown and described may of course be modified within the scope of my invention as defined in the following claims. 4

What I claim is: y

1. vA two-cycle opposed piston engine of the compression-ignition internal combustion type, comprising an engine block having an internal angularly bent cylinder consisting of an intermediate compression-ignition chamber with opposite angularly extending piston bores completely enclosed within said block, a crank case extension and crank shaft for each cylinder bore, a fuel-injecting plunger opening into said compression-Ignition chamber having a plunger operating drive shaft, the axes of said angular cylinder bores being coincident with two sides of an equilateral triangle, and the centers of the crank shafts and the plunger-operating drive shaft being coincident respectively with the apexes of the base and top angles of said triangle.

2. A two-cycle opposed piston engine of the compression-ignition internal combustion type, comprising an engine block having an internal angularly bent cylinder consisting of an intermediate compression-ignition chamber with opposite angularly extending piston bores completely enclosed within said block, a crank case extension and crank shaft for each cylinder bore, a fuel-injecting plunger opening into said compression-ignition chamber having a plunger operating drive shaft, a gear wheel on each of said shafts having their centers respectively coincident with the apexes oi' the three angles of an equilateral triangle, and an engine drive shaft at the center of said triangle having a gear wheel in engagement with the three gear wheels centered at said triangle apexes.

3'. A two-cycle opposed piston engine of the compression-ignition internal combustion type, comprising an engine block having an internal angularly bent cylinder consisting of an intermediate compression-ignition chamber with opposite angularly extending piston bores completely enclosed within said block, a crank case chamber at theA end of each piston bore, and a crank shaft section mounted in each crank case and having an end coupling jaw adapted for removable connection of a shaft extension having a cooperating coupling jaw.

4. A two-cycle opposed piston engine of the compression-ignition internal combustion type, comprising an engine block having an internal angularly bent cylinder consisting of an intermediate compression-ignition chamber with opposite angularly extending piston-bores completely enclosed within said block, a pre-ignition chamber communicating with said compression ignition chamber and extending upwardly from the top cylinder wall of the latter and having a spaced enclosing block wall so as to form a water circulating compartmentyintegral`- ribs connecting said walls and pre-ignition chamber so as to strengthen the same and form heat radieting fins. and a watertight cover plate forV saidcompartment having an aperture communieating with said pre-ignition chamber, I

5. A two-cycle opposed-piston engine of the compression-ignition internal combustion type. comprising an engineblock having an internal bent'cylinder consisting of an intermediate compression-ignition chamber with opposite angularly extending piston bores. pistons reciprocatively mounted in said bores, crank case extensions for said bores having crank shafts connected to their respective pistons, a fuel-injecting mechanism for said compression-ignition chamber having a shaft operating a fuel oil pump and a fuel charge injecting plunger, a main engine shaft, having a gear wheel thereon, and gear wheels on said crank shafts and said fuelim'ecting mechanism shaft intermeshing with said main engine shaft gear and disposed around the latter in a triangular relation so as to drive said main shaft und said injecting mechanism shaft in a cooperative timed relation with said crank shlftl.

6. In the conltrtion set forth in claim 5, a water-circulatiu Jacket surrounding the bores and combustion-ignition chamber of said cylindex' and having connections to a water circulating pump, one crank shaft having a shaft extension for driving said pump.

'1. In the construction let forth in claim 5, a water-circulating jacket surrounding said cylinder bores and having partition walls forming an air passageway connecting said crank cases to one cylinder bore, an exhaust outlet from the other cylinder bore extending through the water jacket surrounding the latter. and one-way air-admission valves to the respective crank chambers. l

8. In the construction set forth in claim 5. one crank shaft having an end coupling jaw, a shaft extensionhaving a co-operating jaw engaging said coupling jaw, and a lubricating oil Pump Operated by said shaft extension and having oil flow connections to both crank case extensions.

t 9. A two-cycle opposed-piston engine of the compression-ignition internal combustion type,

consisting of a plurality of like units cooperatively assembled 'for joint operation, each unit comprising a water-jacketed bent cylinder having an intermediate compression-ignition chamber with opposite angularly extending piston bores and a piston in each bore operatively confor operating said plunger, a main cam shaft mounted at a central location equidistant from each cam shaft and from said plunger operating shaft, intermeshing gears mounted on said shafts within a casing on the outer f ace of an end unit, each crank shaft having an end coupling engagement with the crank shaft of its adjacent unit, said plunger operating shaft cooperatively actuating the respective injection plungers of the respective fuel injecting mechanisms. a. pump operated by one cam shaft for circulating water through the water jacket of all said cylinders, a pump operated by the other cam shaft for circulating lubricating oil to all l0. A two-cycle opposed piston engine of Ithe compression-ignition internal combustion type, comprising a triangular engine block having an internal bent cylinder with an intermediate compression-ignition chamber, a fuel injecting mechanism for the latter having a fuel-charge chamber, a low-pressure fuel supply pump for the latter, a fueldischarge plunger in said fuel-charge -chamber having a high-tensioned operating spring, and means for synchronously operating said engine comprising a -central drive shaft with two crank-shafts and a fuel-mechanism operating shaft triangularly disposed around said drive shaft at the apexes of an equilateral triangle with intermeshing gears connecting said shafts.

ll. In the construction set forth in claim 10,

manual means for varying both the feed-stroke and tim-ing of said spring operated fuel-discharge plunger. i FREDERIC W. PLUMB. 

